Nina Nesbitt misses out on singing Flower of Scotland in New York after being sent to the wrong stage

15:00, 7 Apr 2014

Updated 16:32, 7 Apr 2014

ByBeverley Lyons

THE Scots singer, who is in New York to perform at a number of gigs during Tartan Week, missed her performance of the national anthem after a steward sent her to the wrong place.

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Nina Nesbitt met First Minister Alex Salmond at the event in New York

NINA Nesbitt missed out on singing Scots national anthem Flower of Scotland at New Yorks’s Scotland Run after a steward gave her the wrong directions.

The Stay Out singer is in the Big Apple to perform at a number of gigs during Scotland/Tartan Week and, aside from a performance at Webster Hall with the La Fontaines and Lau last night for The ­Caledonia Collective, the 10k appearance was one of her diary highlights.

But Nina arrived at the main stage on Saturday just as the Morrison’s Academy Pipe Band were finishing off their set.

She revealed: “I got up bright and early at 6am to come down and sing the national anthem, which ­obviously I was really excited about and honoured to do.

“I got there an hour before I was meant to sing, checked in and stood at the stage with my guitars.

“I started to realise everyone was heading in the other direction and thought they were warming up.

“Then I found out the starting line was 10 minutes away in the other direction and I was told I needed to run to reach it.

“I couldn’t run as fast as I’d have liked because I was meant to sing and I’d have been out of breath but I ended up trying to make it to the stage in time. The whole race who were lined up at the starting line were looking at me and it was like a huge game of British bulldogs with me as the miniature Shihtzu.

“I got there just as the pipe band were finishing it and I was pretty upset after being told I was in the right place.”

Nina, who briefly got up on stage to try to sing, was met by First Minister Alex Salmond who smoothed things over by giving her a Scots-American flag badge and chatted to her as they walked up to the finish line.

She was also told she could perform the song before her set on the smaller stage after the race finished.

Nina said: “I met Alex Salmond who gave me a badge and it was all very nice.

"The First Minister was a bit confused about what happened but he wished me luck and said I had a nice voice.

“I ended up doing my performance on the Central Park bandstand and it was nice to see all the Scottish American people there. It was all pretty eventful.”

Nina returned to Central Park yesterday to perform a spontaneous busking gig by the fountain from the title sequence of US series Friends.